Vehicle cab door latch handle and mechanism



June 18, 1963 w. M. MAY

VEHICLE CAB DOOR LATCH HANDLE AND MECHANISM Filed Aug. 14. 1961 FIG.2.

INVENTOR WALTER M. MAY

H IS ATTORN EYS 3,094,352 VEHELE CAB DOOR LATCH HANDLE AND MECHANISM Walter M. May, Allentown, Pa., assignor to Mack Truths, 1116-, Plaintield, NJ, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 131,381 3 Claims. (Cl. 296-44) This invention relates to locking-releasing apparatus for the doors of motor vehicles. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus of such sort which is specially adapted for use with the cab doors of trucks having cabs which are several feet above the ground.

In order to enter the door of such a cab, it is first necessary for the driver to hoist himself to the cab level. Truck manufacturers have intended that the driver do this by pulling himself up with the aid of a stationary grab handle aflixed to the outside of the cab at a position well above the bot-tom of the door and adjacent to the un hinged vertical margin thereof. The reason for supplying such grab handle has been to encourage truck drivers not to lift themselves up by the outside door handle which is easily broken by the placing thereon of too great a weight. It has been found, however, that, because in the past the door handle has been positioned to provide a convenient alternative to the grab handle for self-hoisting purposes, there has been a tendency on the part of truck drivers to lift themselves by the door handle rather than the grab handle, and that a large number of door handle breakages have thereby resulted.

It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to minimize the breakage of the outside handles on the doors of high-mounted truck cabs.

A further object of the invention is to facilitate the opening from the outside of the doors for such cabs.

Another object of the invention is to permit the locking and releasing of a motor vehicle door by the action of an outside door handle at a different vertical level than the latch mechanism for the door.

Yet another object of the invention is to permit such locking and releasing to be accomplished by either the action of such outside handle or by the action of an inside door handle at a different horizontal and vertical location than the outside handle.

These and other objects are realized in accordance with the invention by providing for the door of a high-mounted truck cab an outside door handle positioned sufficiently near the bottom of the door to allow a driver outside the cab to open such door without stretching. At the same time the position of the handle denies the driver any purchase by which he can elevate himself to the height necessary to enter the cab through the door opening.

Supplied in conjunction with such door handle is a grab handle which, as described, is mounted on the outside of the cab adjacent to the unhinged vertical margin of the door to furnish a grasp by which the driver can hoist himself to the level of the door without using the door handle. Preferably but not necessarily, the door is forwardly hinged so that the grab handle is to the rear of the door. As another preferable but not necessary feature, the outside door handle is positioned horizontally close to the grab handle, i.e., at a rearward location on a fo1wardly hinged door.

When the outside handle is given a door-opening movement, such movement is communicated through a linkage to a catch means forming a part of a latch for the door and disposed (at the unhinged vertical margin thereof) in upwardly spaced relation from the outside handle. In this manner, the cab door may be released for opening from the outside of the cab. In order to open the door ice from the inside, there is provided an inside door handle disposed at about the same level as the catch means and connected thereto by another linkage which causes door-opening movement of such inside handle to retract the catch means. The inside and outside door handles and the catch means may be linked together so that a single spring may be employed to bias both handles against door-opening movement.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference 1s made to the following description and to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic view of the right-hand side of a truck incorporating a representative embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic view (looking in the direction from outside the cab towards the interior thereof) of the inside of the panel for the left-hand door of the truck of FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 10 generally designates a truck having a cab 11 mounted over the right-hand and left-hand front tires 12, 12' at a height too great for a driver merely to step into the cab. The cab 11 may be entered through either of right-hand and left-hand forwardly hinged doors of which the righthand door 13 is shown in FIG. 1. Such door is, as usual, comprised of a lower panel 14, an upper, rearward, vertically movable window 15, an upper, forward, angularly movable vent window 16, and a frame 17 for the windows. The left-hand door is constructed of similar elements of which those shown in FIGURE 2 will be designated herein by prime reference numerals in order to distinguish such left-hand elements from their counterparts in the right-hand door 13.

Secured to the underside of cab 11 and rearwardly of right-hand tire 12 is an L-bracket 20 having a downwardly extending leg 21 and a rearwardly extending leg 22, the latter leg providing a step. Also secured to the outside of cab 11 above step 22 is a stationary grab handle 25 disposed adjacent the unhinged, rear vertical margin 26 of door 13 at a position opposite the upper left-hand corner of panel 14 and at a vertical location about halfway between the bottom 27 and the top 28 of the door. A similar bracket (not shown) and a similar grab handle 25' (FIG. 2) are secured to the left-hand side of the truck.

The door 13 may be unlatched by depression of an outside door handle 3t positioned at the lower left-hand corner of panel M to be adjacent both the bottom 27 of such door and the unhinged vertical margin 26 thereof. As is evident from FIG. 1, the handle 39 may be reached without stretching by a driver standing on the ground. At the same time, the handle 3%} is sufficiently close to the door bottom 27 that such driver cannot lift himself by that handle to a height sufficient to pass through the doorway provided by door 13 when open.

The just-described position of handle 30 accordingly forces a driver to enter cab 11 from the right-hand side by the procedure of first operating handle 30 to open the door 13, and by then utilizing the step 22 and the grab handle 25 to raise himself to a height sufiicient to pass through the doorway. Since, by this procedure, the bandle 39 is used for no purpose other than to open the door, there is no occas'oin for a driver to place great weight thereon in the course of depressing the handle. Moreover, the handle 3&1 is at a sufficiently low position that a driver on the ground would be inconvenienced in attempting to load the handle (by his weight or muscular power) with a force greater than that necessary to depress it. Hence, the shown low position for the door handle 39 results in elimination of the numerous break-ages thereof which occurred when, as described, such handle was positioned on the door at the level of and near to grab handle 25. Also, such low position for the door handle eliminates the inconvenience (accompanying the previously used high position) of having to release and open the door with one hand while being somewhat precariously perched on the step 22.

Turning now to FIGURE 2, while it is the interior of the left-hand panel :14 which is shown thereby, such figure is also illustrative of the interior of the right hand door panel 14 (FIG. 1) inasmuch as the two panels are duplicates apart :from their left-hand and right-hand aspects.

Considering the details of the left-hand panel 14, it has at its unhinged, rearward, vertical margin 26" a conventional catch means 35 which forms one part of the latch for the left-hand door. Such catch means includes (1) a catch 36', (2) an assembly of parts forming a catch holder 37', and (3) a retractor bar 38 for the catch holder. The catch 36' maintains the door latched in closed posit-ion by fitting into' a recessed eatchway (not shown) in the (frame surrounding the door, the catch means and catchway together comprising the whole door latch. As is usual, a spring (not shown) in holder 37' normally maintains catch 36 outwards of the holder but is yieldable under a wedging action on catch 36' to allow such action to force such catch into the holder. Thus, the catch means is of the sort which permits the door to be slammed closed and then become self-latched.

From what has been said, it will be evident that the latch for the door is, in itself, conventional, the above brief description of such latch having been given for background only.

The outside handle for the left-hand door is connected to the catch means by a linkage comprised of the following elements: (1) a shaft 40' aflixed to handle 30', (2) a crank 41 affixed to shaft 40 on the interior of panel 14', (3) a coupling pin 42, (4) a link bar 43' coupled at its lower end by pin 42 to crank 41', and having formed in its upper end a lengthwise extending slot '44, (5) a pin '45 riding in slot 44, (6) a toggle 46 carrying pin at one end and pivoted at its center by a pin 47 mounted in fixed relation with panel 14', and (7) a pin 4-8 carried at the other end of the toggle to connect such toggle (with some play) to the retractor bar 38' of the catch means 35'.

I For the normal linkage position shown in FIG. 2 (handle 30' being undepressed and catch means 35' accordingly unretracted), the pin 45 of the linkage is disposed upwardly with-in slot 44 as far as the pin can go. Therefore, any door-opening depression of handle 30' is immediately communicated to retractor bar 3'8 to pull to the left both that bar and the rest of the catch means 35'. Hence, depression of handle 30 serves to retract the catch means to thereby unlatch or release the door so that it may be opened.

The catch means 35' may also be retracted for dooropening purposes by the inside handle 50' shown in FIG. 2. Such inside handle is most conveniently reached by the driver when the handle is positioned Well towards the front of the cab, and when, for a forwardly hinged door, it is accordingly spaced horizontally by most of the width of the door from the catch means 35 at the rear margin 26. Because of this horizontal spacing between handle 50 and the catch means, it is necessary to connect one with the other by a linkage consisting of the following: (8) a shaft to which handle 50 is afiixed, (9) a crank 56' :aflixed on the interior of panel 14' to shaft 55', (10) a pin 57, and (11) a link bar 58 coupled at its lefthand end through pin 57' to crank 56', and loosely coupled at its right-hand end by pin 48' to the retractor bar 38'. As with the outside handle 36', a door opening movement of the inside handle 50 is communicated through the linkage just described to the catch means 3'5 to retract such catch means to thereby release the door for opening thereof. The inside handle differs, however, from the outside one in that it is an upward rather than a downward movement of the inside handle which unlatches the door to permit it to be opened.

Still referring to FIG. 2, the portion of crank 56 which surrounds shaft d5 has formed therein a shoulder 69'. That shoulder as is engaged by the free end of a compression spring 61 whose anchored end is maintained in fixed relation with the panel '14. The spring 61 exerts on the crank at a distance from shaft 55' a force which is manifested as a torque urging crank 56 clockwise as seen in FIG. '2, i.e. in .a rotational direction opposite to the counterclockwise displacement given to inside handle 59' and crank 56' in order to release the door for opening. That force or torque is communicated through the described horizontal linkage so as (a) to tend to maintain inside handle 5% normally upward (against :an unshown stop), and (b) to tend to maintain retractor bar 38 and the rest of catch means 35' rightward (against an unshown stop). In other words, the spring 61. biases handle 50' against door-opening movement and biases catch means 35' against being leftwardly retracted by such handle.

The described spring bias is imparted to the toggle 46' and to the pin 45 of the vertical linkage. Hence, any depression of outside handle 30' for door-opening purposes is a movement which has to operate (through the described vertical linkage) against such bias as manifested on pin 45'. This being so, it will be seen that, in addition to biasing inside handle 50" against door-opening movement, the spring '61 operates through the horizontal linkage and then through the vertical linkage to also bias the outside door handle 30 against door-opening movement.

While the vertical linkage is thus fully coupled to the horizontal linkage for the purpose of transmitting a biasing force from the latter to the former and thence to the outside handle 30 (and, also as described, is fully coupled to the retractor bar 38' for the purpose of transmitting a door-opening movement from outside handle 30' to that bar), nonetheless, the vertical linkage is uncoupled by the pin and-slot, lost motion coupling 44', 45 from the horizontal linkage in the instance where that last named linkage is being used to transmit a door-opening movement from inside handle 50' to the catch means 35. Specifically, when inside handle 50 is rotated upwardly to pull retractor bar 38 leftwardly, such leftward motion of bar 38' causes toggle 46 to rotate counterclockwise (as seen in FIG. 2) to thereby produce a downward movement of the pin 45'. Since, however the pin 45 is free to slide downwardly within slot 44', the downward movement of the pin is taken up by such sliding, and, accordingly, the motion of bar 38 induced by operation of inside handle 50' is not communicated past pin 45' through the rest of the vertical linkage to the outside handle 30".

The uncoupling in this manner of outside handle 30" and most of the vertical linkage from the horizontal linkage (when inside handle 50' is used to open the door) is a feature having the advantage that it permits the inside handle to be operated for door-opening purposes Without being loaded by the linkage associated with the outside handle. The linkage combination shown in FIG. 2 is thus particularly useful in that, not only does it provide the advantage just mentioned but, at the same time, it also permits (as described) both the inside and the outside handle to be biased against door-opening movement by the single spring 61'.

The above-described embodiment of the invention being exemplarly only, it will be understood that additions thereto, omissions therefrom and modifications thereof can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the invention comprehends embodiments differing in form and/or detail from that specifically disclosed. For example, the doors for the described truck cab can be rearwardly hinged, the step, grab handle and outside door handle being accordingly, placed forwardly rather than rearwardly, and corresponding modifications being made in the linkage system shown in FIG. 2.

The invention, therefore, is not to be considered as limited save as is consonant with the recitals of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination on a truck having a hinged door for the cab thereof, said door being mounted several feet above the ground, comprising, a stationary grab handle aflixed to the outside of the cab adjacent the unhinged vertical margin of said door and high up from the bottom thereof to enable a person to lift himself into said cab with said grab handle, catch means carried by said door at said margin and forming part of a latch for locking said door in closed position when said catch means is unretracted, a movable door handle disposed on the outside of said door near the bottom thereof and adjacent to said margin in downwardly spaced relation from said catch means to prevent a person from lifting himself into said cab with said door handle, and a linkage connecting said movable door handle and catch means and responsive to movement of such door handle to release said door for opening by retracting said catch means.

2. The combination on a truck having a forwardly hinged door for the cab thereof, said door being mounted several feet above the ground, comprising, a stationary grab handle aflixed to the outside of said cab adjacent the rearward vertical margin of said door to enable a person to lift himself into said cab with said grab handle, catch means carried by said door at said margin and forming part of a latch for locking said door in closed position when said latch means is unretracted, a first movable door handle disposed on the outside of said door near the bottom thereof and "adjacent said margin in downwardly spaced relation from said catch means to prevent a person from lifting himself into said cab with said door handle, a second movable door handle disposed on the inside of said door in forwardly spaced relation from said catch means, and first and second linkages connecting said catch means with, respectively, said first and second door handles, either linkage being responsive to movement of the associated door handle to release said door for opening by retracting said catch means.

3. The combination on a truck having a forwardly hinged door for the cab thereof, said door being mounted several feet above the ground, comprising, a stationary grab handle afiixed to the outside of said cab adjacent the rearward vertical margin of said door to enable a person to lift himself into said cab with said grab handle, catch means carried by said door at said margin and forming part of a latch for locking said door in closed position when said catch means is unretracted, a first movable door handle disposed on the outside of said door near the bottom thereof and adjacent said margin in downwardly spaced relation from said catch means to prevent a person from lifting himself into said cab with said door handle, a second movable door handle disposed on the inside of said door in forwardly spaced relation from said catch means, first and second linkages connecting said catch means with, respectively, said first and second door handles, either linkage being responsive to movement of the associated door handle to release said door for opening by retracting said catch means, a spring coupled to the linked system of said catch means and said second door handle and second linkage to impart to said system a force biasing said second door handle against door-opening movement, and a pin and slot coupling included in said first linkage to render said first door handle biased by said force against door-opening movement while permitting said catch means to be retracted by door-opening movement of said second door handle without accompanying movement of said first handle References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,534,216 Horning Apr. 21, 1925 2,148,308 Spear Feb. 21, 1939 2,628,091 Rappl Feb. 10, 1953 2,928,690 Larson Mar. 15, 1960 

1. THE COMBINATION ON A TRUCK HAVING A HINGED DOOR FOR THE CAB THEREOF, SAID DOOR BEING MOUNTED SEVERAL FEET ABOVE THE GROUND, COMPRISING, A STATIONARY GRAB HANDLE AFFIXED TO THE OUTSIDE OF THE CAB ADJACENT THE UNHINGED VERTICAL MARGIN OF SAID DOOR AND HIGH UP FROM THE BOTTOM THEREOF TO ENABLE A PERSON TO LIFT HIMSELF INTO SAID CAB WITH SAID GRAB HANDLE, CATCH MEANS CARRIED BY SAID DOOR AT SAID MARGIN AND FORMING PART OF A LATCH FOR LOCKING SAID DOOR IN CLOSED POSITION WHEN SAID CATCH MEANS IS UNRETRACTED, A MOVABLE DOOR HANDLE DISPOSED ON THE OUTSIDE OF SAID DOOR NEAR THE BOTTOM THEREOF AND ADJACENT TO SAID MARGIN IN DOWNWARDLY SPACED RELATION FROM SAID CATCH MEANS TO PREVENT A PERSON FROM LIFTING HIMSELF INTO SAID CAB WITH SAID DOOR HANDLE, AND A LINKAGE CONNECTING SAID MOVABLE DOOR HANDLE AND CATCH MEANS AND RESPONSIVE TO MOVEMENT OF SUCH DOOR HANDLE TO RELEASE SAID DOOR FOR OPENING BY RETRACTING SAID CATCH MEANS. 